The Israeli army arrests the mayor of a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli army arrested the mayor of Qarawat Bani Hassan, Ibrahim Asi, on Saturday evening, west of Salfit city in the northern occupied West Bank, along with another Palestinian during a raid on the village.

Palestine TV reported that the occupation forces arrested the mayor of Qarawat Bani Hassan, Ibrahim Asi. A local agency also reported that the army arrested a bulldozer driver named Ghaleb Rayan and confiscated a bulldozer and a crane during the incursion.

The reason for the arrest was attributed to an attempt to remove a concrete block that the army had placed at the entrance of the town, which caused traffic accidents and obstructed traffic flow.

It was noted that the Israeli forces also placed an iron gate and concrete blocks at the entrance of the village, which narrowed the road and made it difficult for vehicles to pass in both directions.

Asi is the fifth mayor to be arrested by the Israeli army in the West Bank within a month. The mayor of the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, Amin Abu Aliya, was arrested on August 23, released after 9 days, then the mayor of Hebron, Taysir Abu Sneina, who was arrested on September 2 and transferred to administrative detention.

The third is the mayor of the village of Qabiba, northwest of Jerusalem, Nafez Hamouda, who was arrested on September 10 and released the same day, followed by Abdul Fattah Abu Ali, the mayor of Silat al-Dhahr, south of Jenin, who was arrested on September 11 and released the same day.

Alongside the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli army has intensified its operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while Israeli settlers have escalated their attacks, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,042 Palestinians and injuries to about 10,160 others, in addition to the arrest of more than 19,000, according to official Palestinian data.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in 65,208 deaths and 166,271 injuries, most of whom are children and women, and famine that has claimed the lives of 440 Palestinians, including 147 children.